Are you ready for World Book Day this year? World Book Day is an exciting holiday that all book lovers should experience and enjoy. But if you’re wondering how to celebrate World Book Day 2023, then check out these exciting ideas to make the most of this bookish holiday!
What is World Book Day?
World Book Day (also known as World Book and Copyright Day or International Day of the Book) is an international and worldwide celebration that promotes the enjoyment of books and reading and champions books, copyright, and creativity. (Note that this is a different event than the World Book Day that takes place in March in the UK and Ireland).
Each year, World Book Day seeks to encourage everyone (and young people in particular) to discover the pleasure of reading…and this special day is observed by millions of people in 100+ countries around the world!
When is World Book Day?
World Book Day takes place every year on April 23rd.
Why this day? Well, this is an important and symbolic date for world literature because it’s the date when many well-known authors died (for example: William Shakespeare, Miguel de Cervantes, Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, William Wordsworth, and many others). As such, it seems fitting to celebrate books on a day that also honors prominent authors from around the world!
7 Exciting Ideas for World Book Day Celebrations
Looking for fun ways to celebrate World Book and Copyright Day? Here are 7 ways to celebrate on April 23rd and throughout the year!
1. Get Free Ebooks From Around the World
Some booksellers and retailers offer free ebooks for World Book Day, and this year Amazon has already announced that they are offering 10 free ebooks from around the world. Check out the free ebooks to see if there are any you’d like to read!
Be sure to also keep an eye on your favorite bookshops and retailers as World Book Day approaches, as they might also offer World Book Day free books or other exciting deals!
2. Participate in the #Bookface Challenge
Another fun way to celebrate World Book and Copyright Day is to participate in this year’s UNESCO #bookface challenge.
You may have seen this challenge before, but essentially you take a picture of yourself with a book cover that blends into your reality. It’s such a fun challenge, and it’s a ton of fun to see all the creative ideas people come up with!
If you want to participate in this challenge, be sure to tag #WorldBookandCopyrightDay and #bookface on your image. You can also submit your #bookface photos to [email protected] by April 22nd, 2021 for a chance to have your photo shared on the UNESCO page on April 23rd! Find more information here.
3. Join the World Book Capital Celebrations
Every World Book Day, UNESCO decides on one country to be the year’s World Book Capital…and this city then carries the spirit of World Book Day for an entire year by promoting reading and creating events/activities throughout the year.
This year’s World Book Capital is Tbilisi (Georgia), and the slogan is “Ok. So your next book is…?” They’ll be focusing on activities involving libraries, creating a state-of-the-art digital project for turning books into games, and rebuilding the first Georgian publishing house.
The kickoff for celebrations starts on April 23rd, and through the power of the internet we can all join the celebrations no matter where we are in the world! So keep an eye on Tbilisi’s official World Book Day page to see what celebrations they create for World Book Day this year!
4. Dress Up Like a Literary Character
Looking for a fun and perhaps somewhat silly way to celebrate World Book Day? If so, then you might want to consider dressing up like one of your favorite literary characters!
And if you’d like, you can even go a step further and dress up your pets like literary characters too. (These are some great Harry Potter cat costumes, if that’s something you’re interested in!)
5. Visit Your Favorite Bookshop
Another of the best World Book Day ideas is to visit and buy books from your favorite bookshop. There’s never been a better time to support local booksellers, and going to a bookshop on World Book Day is definitely an exciting outing!
6. Make a Book-Related Craft
Want a hands-on way to participate in World Book Day? Spend part of the day making a bookish craft!
There are lots of book-related crafts you can create, but one of my favorites is making bookmarks! These blank wooden bookmarks are excellent for creating your own designs, this crochet fox bookmark is darling, or try following this free origami butterfly bookmark tutorial.
7. Host a Book Club or Book Discussion
And last but not least, if you’re looking for a fun way to enjoy World Book Day then consider hosting a book club/discussion! It’s an excellent way to enjoy reading and talking about books with your friends, which is essentially what World Book Day is all about.
Or if you don’t want to host a full book club meeting, you could instead simply get together with friends and ask each other fun bookish questions or discuss your mutual bookish pet peeves. So grab a new book or some bookish questions, get a few friends together in person or through Zoom, and get ready to discuss and celebrate!
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